BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. Raises Stock Holdings in COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP)

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. raised its stake in shares of COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) by 72.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 876,366 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 367,969 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. owned approximately 0.78% of COPT Defense Properties worth $26,580,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in COPT Defense Properties in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $333,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its stake in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 32.5% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 55,516 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,684,000 after buying an additional 13,606 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 13.7% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 231,131 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,010,000 after buying an additional 27,812 shares in the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 31.4% in the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 11,577 shares of the company’s stock valued at $351,000 after buying an additional 2,764 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its stake in COPT Defense Properties by 28.3% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,810 shares of the company’s stock worth $116,000 after acquiring an additional 840 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CDP has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $27.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Wedbush raised their price target on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $28.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on COPT Defense Properties from $26.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $30.86.

COPT Defense Properties Price Performance

Shares of CDP opened at $31.84 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.38, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $31.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $28.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.10 and a beta of 0.98. COPT Defense Properties has a twelve month low of $22.20 and a twelve month high of $34.22.

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by ($0.32). COPT Defense Properties had a net margin of 18.34% and a return on equity of 8.99%. The business had revenue of $189.23 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $167.37 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.60 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that COPT Defense Properties will post 2.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

COPT Defense Properties Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.295 dividend. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. COPT Defense Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 96.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling at COPT Defense Properties

In related news, COO Britt A. Snider acquired 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was bought at an average price of $29.41 per share, for a total transaction of $29,410.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief operating officer now directly owns 2,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $58,820. The trade was a 100.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

COPT Defense Properties Company Profile

COPT Defense, an S&P MidCap 400 Company, is a self-managed REIT focused on owning, operating and developing properties in locations proximate to, or sometimes containing, key U.S. Government (USG) defense installations and missions (referred to as its Defense/IT Portfolio). The Company's tenants include the USG and their defense contractors, who are primarily engaged in priority national security activities, and who generally require mission-critical and high security property enhancements.